Greyhound trainer accused of giving dogs cocaine before race

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Greyhound at full speed during a race

Greyhound trainer accused of giving dogs cocaine before race

Greyhound at full speed during a race

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Florida greyhound trainer lost his license after five dogs tested positive for cocaine following a race in January.

Malcolm McAllister, who is a nearly 40-year veteran, lost his license on April 24 following the discovery, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Officials say urine samples were taken from the dogs in mid-January.

McAllister, 70, said in a statement to the agency that someone who worked for him must have given the dogs the drug.

“One of these undesirables had to have either dropped or administered the cocaine,” he wrote.

On January 11, Flying Tidalwave tested positive for cocaine and benzoylecgonine, the newspaper reports. A week later, on Jan. 18, a sample from P Kay Sweetmissy tested positive for cocaine metabolites. On January 21, samples collected from Kiowa Wellington, Roc A By Sevenup, Flying Tidalwave and Flying Microsoft also tested positive for cocaine metabolites.

Theil said there have been other positive cocaine tests of racing dogs, but never five at a time.

“I’m not sure which is worse, that these were attempts to fix races or that individuals who are responsible for the dogs are doing cocaine,” said Carey Theil, executive director of watchdog group GREY2K USA. “Both of those are very grave scenarios and raise serious questions about the welfare of the dogs and the integrity of the races at Derby Lane.”